How long is too long between feeds for BF 4month old?

**Razzberry** · February 16th, 2014, 07:49 AM

Alot of doctors recommend starting solids early, and for some bubs this does help, However, the mums that I work with in the reflux association were also told that and for alot of us it makes things worse, especially when they are so young and not ready. Many reflux bubs whole gastro system is very sensitive and are more prone to constipation and rice cereal can just makes things worse as if the pressure below can just make the reflux worse at the top end.

Losec suppresses acid production and does a good job of it, It doesnt make the acid worse and a gradual wean off losec when the time comes helps with what they call "rebound acid". I absolutely hated the idea of my young babies on losec but the consequences of not being on were far worse. My son was on it by 2 weeks as I saw the change it had made in my daughter. It is alot more effective then zantac in most babies. I have had lots of people say to me, "oh my baby had reflux too and so I put them on an anti-reflux formula or used thickener and they were all good". This just tells me that all it did was stop the spew - a true reflux baby is in agony and no amount of thickener will make the acid or the pain go away. Having a reflux baby is hard work. I really feel for you xxx

**JLeigh29** · February 16th, 2014, 08:27 AM

Have been reading along and not posting, but wanted to offer hugs....Bub is on Losec for silent reflux here too, so I get how hard it is to see them in pain. The Losec made a big difference here, but we've noticed another huge improvement since I eliminated dairy and soy a couple of weeks ago. Bub was wanting to comfort feed all the time, but would then pull off in pain every few seconds - heartbreaking for me, not to mention painful too! Stopping Breastfeeding is not an option here either - plus the LC/dietician's advice and all the reading I've done suggests it's less likely to cause issues than formula, especially with the CMPI. He's now feeding very well most of the time and not so often either. He was also catnapping during the day and falling asleep within two or three minutes at each feed, but this has improved a bit - we often get one longer than 40 minute nap during the day, and one or two 30 min naps, as opposed to only 5-15 minute cat naps. We still get a few of those too though.

It's still very early days here as Bub is only 7 ½ weeks old, so it's interesting to hear about others journeys. Please look after yourself in all this too, and get whatever support you can. My MCHN has been great at helping me access some practical support.

**LionsandBears** · February 16th, 2014, 12:44 PM

I've also given up dairy, which the paediatrician doesn't agree with. I had a coffee yesterday and am regretting that. I hadn't thought of soy though I generally avoid it. I'm also gluten free and boy, do we all pay for it if I cheat.

It's good to know Losec is effective though things do seem worse in the last couple of weeks. Interesting about the rice cereal possibly making these worse.

**peanutter** · February 16th, 2014, 01:26 PM

A friend had to go off all cruciferous and bulbous veggies, as they are what upset her LO's tummy. I think that's to do with gas build up... ?

**onthefly** · February 16th, 2014, 03:50 PM

L&B, Joy Anderson is an LC/dietician who specialises in babies with allergies/intolerances and is a good person to talk to if you need some professional advice.
It's really hard to track reactions to things because they're delayed and only occur after sufficient buildup of the offending substance to beyond tolerance levels. (Well, you probably already know all this

)

**LionsandBears** · February 16th, 2014, 04:05 PM

A friend had to go off all cruciferous and bulbous veggies, as they are what upset her LO's tummy. I think that's to do with gas build up... ?

I've done this too.

thanks MadB - I'll look her up

**Tegam** · February 16th, 2014, 04:34 PM

Hugs for an unsettled baby. Sometimes the hardest thing is looking for answers. Sometimes you have to energy to look for solutions and other times I've found it yes easier to submit to this being a 'stage', rough period. Only you know what you have in you

**JLeigh29** · February 16th, 2014, 10:39 PM

Joy Anderson is who I'm seeing.

I can highly recommend her; she had great insight into what could be happening with Bub and is helping me with a dairy challenge this week (feeling a little nervous that Bub is probably going to get worse again because of me, even if it's only for a little bit). Definitely email her as she can help with both the feeding and the reflux/diet.

I thought I didn't eat much soy either, but when I started label reading, it's in a heck of a lot of stuff that I had no idea about. You'd probably be avoiding a lot of it by avoiding gluten though.

Hugs

**Tegam** · February 19th, 2014, 07:03 PM

How are things lionsandbears?

**LionsandBears** · February 20th, 2014, 05:10 AM

He's decided to feed every 2 hours through the night, then wake up to chat and play with Mummy at 5:30am. Mummy is not impressed with waking up so early.

we had 1 four our block between feeds yesterday, but otherwise back to 2-3 hours. The 5-6 hour block overnight still eludes us.

the reflux is still there. I was on omeprezole whilst pregnant and it stopped the pain of heartburn. I assumed it would work just as well for bub but it hasnt. I'm still researching the pros & cons of starting him on solids. We're also using Infacol for wind build up.

**Tegam** · February 20th, 2014, 06:56 AM

That's tough. You must be tired. The frequent feeding seems normal to my babies but very hard when you think they are in pain. I took DD3 to a naturopath that tests them for intolerances using a hair sample. Dd3s intolerances are complex/random and I would never have figured them out on my own. After not sleeping for 2years the new diet started working straight away and major difference within a month.... Something else to google maybe??

**Razzberry** · February 20th, 2014, 10:05 AM

He may need his losec dose adjusted. Babies grow very quickly at this age and it is constantly a catch up to keep their meds at a dose suitable for their weight. Some babies also require a combination of reflux meds and some require a higher dose than others.

**PumpkinZulu** · February 20th, 2014, 11:48 AM

He may need his losec dose adjusted. Babies grow very quickly at this age and it is constantly a catch up to keep their meds at a dose suitable for their weight. Some babies also require a combination of reflux meds and some require a higher dose than others.

I agree with this. For his weight, 7.5mg seems low.